Blubaugh Brilliant, But Express Win 2-1
The Sugar Land Space Cowboys (30-17) took a scoreless game to the ninth, but dropped the second game of the series against the Round Rock Express (26-20) 2-1 on Wednesday night at Constellation Field It was a true pitcher’s duel between Sugar Land’s RHP AJ Blubaugh and Round Rock’s RHP
The Sugar Land Space Cowboys (30-17) took a scoreless game to the ninth, but dropped the second game of the series against the Round Rock Express (26-20) 2-1 on Wednesday night at Constellation Field
It was a true pitcher’s duel between Sugar Land’s RHP AJ Blubaugh and Round Rock’s RHP Jack Leiter with both hurling 5.0 shutout innings. Both starters allowed four baserunners each. In the top of the third, after a single from Dustin Harris, Blubaugh made a quick turn to first to pick-off Harris and get the second out of the inning. The righty closed his night out by retiring the final six batters he faced.
RHP Shawn Dubin, RHP Ray Gaither and RHP Logan VanWey continued Blubaugh’s brilliance and hurled scoreless frames of their own. When RHP Alex Speas (1-1) took over the ninth, back-to-back singles put runners on the corners for Sam Huff, who lined a ball just above second baseman Shay Whitcomb’s reach to bounce into the outfield, scoring Davis Wendzel. Later in the inning, another bloop hit from Blaine Crim with the bases loaded scored the second run of the night for the Express.
In the bottom of the ninth, facing a 2-0 deficit, Cooper Hummel launched a 369-foot home run over the Space Cowboys bullpen to bring Sugar Land within one, but RHP Daniel Robert (W, 2-0) slammed the door shut for the final two outs to give the Express the win Wednesday night.
The Space Cowboys will take on their alternate identity of the “Dulces de Sugar Land,” and continue their series against the division-rival Round Rock Express Thursday night. Sugar Land’s starter LHP Colton Gordon (2-0, 4.15) will take the mound against Round Rock’s RHP Johnny Cueto (0-0, 0.00) for a 6:35 pm CT first pitch. The game can be heard on ESPN 92.5 FM or online here and seen on MiLB.TV, MLB.TV or Bally Live.
ABOUT THE SUGAR LAND SPACE COWBOYS:
The Sugar Land Space Cowboys are the Triple-A affiliate of the Houston Astros and compete in the Pacific Coast League. They began play as the Astros Triple-A affiliate in 2021 and began playing under the Space Cowboys brand in 2022. The Space Cowboys play at Constellation Field, located at the corner of Hwy-6 and US-90 Alternate in Sugar Land, Texas. Follow the team on Twitter (@SLSpaceCowboys), Instagram (@slspacecowboys), Facebook (SLSpaceCowboys) and their official website (slspacecowboys.com). Fans can purchase full-season and partial-season plans, as well as single-game tickets, by visiting slspacecowboys.com/tickets.